Duchy of Flamont
A great bonfire always ends in ash. Niccolo III "the Ill-Fated" Flavius craftily set the base for a dominion that would fit his ambition - a Grand Duchy. A well-respected and rather feared power at its prime, the Grand Duchy of Central Astros was the result of a clever gambit played by Duke Niccolo - a swiftly-made personal union between the duchies of Flamont and Lucia created through his marriage to Duchess Desideria di Morneo, the sister of the late Duke Dorian di Morneo; a rapid two-front conquest of the neighbouring Duchy of Arona, and voila - the perfect recipe for a unified duchy worthy of blessing from the Tevas himself. That fact, too, stands true - Niccolo even managed to barter the name of "Grand Duchy" and the title of "Grand Duke" from the Vicar of the Father and the Moons himself. But there was one thing the crafty duke did not account for - the fact that with unity comes diversity. And this brought forth the end of the so-called "giant that walked on stilts". The flame of disparity that spread with the conquest of Arona was of great impact. At first lightly displeased, then absolutely enraged with Niccolo being their leader, the Aronans turned en masse to Crimsonarism - a less-favoured branch of Dualism, - for one reason: the preachers of Crimsonarism claim that the divine right of rulers is not, in fact, a right endorsed by the Father or the Moons, thus making Niccolo's claim to rule absolutely illegitimate. Of course, with the spread of Crimsonarism, the values of the religion began to spread, and a great cultural rift emerged between the Dualists and Crimsonarists of Central Astros. Tensions grew high, and various assassination attempts have been made against Niccolo. All of them were, however, unsuccessful. Niccolo instead died in an accident - he fell off the tower of the Basilica di Leonoria. Rumours of assassination began to spread like wildfire among the duchy, and the tensions finally erupted - Arona declared their independence, but then was quickly fragmented by a civil war, and Lucia declared their independence from the Grand Duchy, breaking the personal union of the Flavius and Morneo houses, for no direct heir to the two existed. And yet for all that, through a miracle - or, perhaps, a clever political gambit of Niccolo's relatives, - Flamont remained intact. Niccolo's cousin, Emilio III Dorato, quickly seized the throne of power of the Grand Duchy, and while he failed to keep the realm united, he did succeed in maintaining stability within Flamont during a time of great unrest in the region. Unfortunately, he fell in battle quickly after his succession, thus, his son, Emilio IV Dorato, the nephew of Niccolo, became the new Duke of Flamont. Stabilised internally, Flamont is now perhaps even stronger than it was during the times of the Grand Duchy. Although most Aronians opted for the death of Niccolo, some of them actually found that they were better off under the Grand Duchy, and decided to protest against the idea of an independent Arona, thus giving birth to the faction of the Flaviari in the civil war. The Flamontians can rest at ease for now - with Flamont being in good terms with the rest of their neighbours, and the pro-Flamontian Aronians doing all the fighting, all that the people of the realm need to do is toss some florins their way, and enjoy the bloody spectacle. Category:Factions Category:Astros